1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to radio frequency (RF) converters and, more specifically, to an RF converter system with a distributed protection switching scheme which provides reliable backup protection to prevent disruptions in communication due to an RF converter failure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Radio frequency (RF) converters are a type of communication equipment which are used in satellite ground stations. In general, RF converters are commonly categorized as being an up converter or a down converter. Up converters are used in the transmission of communication signals, while down converters are used to receive communication signals from a satellite.
Most RF converting systems are comprised of a plurality of RF converter modules (either up or down converters) which are used for converting an inputted signal. The plurality of RF converter modules are all directly coupled to a centralized switching unit. The centralized switching unit provides backup protection to prevent disruptions in communication due to an RF converter module failure. When a fault occurs on any of the RF converter modules, the centralized switching unit can switch the RF converter module where the fault had occurred to a backup RF converter module.
While present RF converting systems do provide reliable backup protection in case of an RF converter module failure, there are several problems with current designs. Current RF converting systems use a centralized switching unit to provide backup protection for an RF converter module failure. These centralized switching units limit the capability of expanding the RF converting system to include more RF converter modules since most centralized switching units can only handle up to eight separate RF converter modules.
The main problem with a centralized switching unit is that a centralized switching unit requires each RF converter module to be directly coupled to the centralized switching unit in order to provide reliable backup protection for each RF converter module. This requirement causes long cable runs from the RF converter modules to the centralized switching unit which increases the cost of the RF converting system. Furthermore, centralized switching causes added cable losses and actually contributes to the degradation of availability by the mean time between failures (MTBF) of the added logic hardware and extra power supplies.
Therefore, a need existed to provide an improved RF converting system. The improved RF converting system must be easier and less costly to expand. The improved RF converting system must be able to provide reliable backup protection without the use of long cable runs from the centralized switching unit to each RF converter module. The improved RF converting system must also do away with the Other problems associated with using a centralized switching unit.